Who Will Bail Us Out?

Americans are already paying for the lack of fiscal restraint exercised by their own elected leaders, but the proposed bailout of Greece would have them paying for the financial foibles of another country’s government as well. Since the proposed bailout would effectively be paying off Greek loans to German, Swiss, French and other European banks, American taxpayers are right to not only be concerned and confused, but outraged at how their money is being spent. Those taxpayers in North Carolina’s second district are probably wondering why Bob Etheridge voted to send $75 billion to the IMF fund that is the source of the bailout.

The issues involved in multi-billion dollar European bailouts can be complicated, but Carrie Lukas, vice president for policy and economics at The Independent Women’s Forum, has broken them down to the basics and also puts the numbers in context.

Lukas wrote, “…to help alleviate the debt crises of European countries, Americans may end up spending in the neighborhood of $60 billion. To put that in perspective, corporate income taxes are expected to raise about $157 billion this year. That means that more than one third of corporate tax receipts may be sent overseas to prop up nations who have allowed their governments’ to rack up debt even more irresponsibly than ours has.”

Lukas went on to say, “That $60 billion could be used to reduce corporate tax rates by a third, which would create jobs, make American companies more competitive, and grow the economy. But instead that money will be sent to countries that smugly lecture Americans about the superiority of their system of government and way of life.”

If America continues on a course of irresponsible spending, and then extends it to bailing out the irresponsible spending of other governments, it is difficult to see how we avoid ending up in the same boat where Greece finds itself now. If we return the same politicians to Washington to continue the same failed policies, we will be even deeper in debt, with an even weaker economy than we have seen recently. When that happens, who will bail us out?

Renee Ellmers is the Republican candidate running to unseat incumbent Bob Etheridge in North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. She is a nurse, a businesswoman, and a mom who is running for Congress because she is concerned about the direction her country is heading and wants to see her son have the same opportunities she had when she was growing up. You can find more information about her campaign at Renee for Congress.com.